hartmann



Oct. 4, 1927. 1,644,127

. C. HARTMANN AUTOMATIC VALVE Filed April 22, 1926 2 Sheets-Sheet l Irl2 Sheets-Sheet 2 C. HARTMANN AUTOMATIC VALVE Filed April 22, 1926 HIM` 1v oct. 4, 192?.

Patented Oct. 4, 1927.

UNITED STATES 1 .1r.;1\1T oFF-leeg..

an raaivcisco, oALinonNrn, vAssienoia or oNEfHAiFTo N, ory saNrRANcisoo,cALrroRNiA. Y

CARL HARTMANN, OF S SOHN E. ANDERS() -AUTOMATIC VALVE.

Application filed April 22, 1926.y Serial No. 103,853.`

of the type wh through suitable coils 2 wherein it is heated by asuitable burner 'consu'ming gas or other fuel; the water being heatedwhile flowing .through the coils 2` to the' point Iof discharge.v l'

The present .invention is directed toen improved valve for automaticallyturning and kregulating Vthe ysupply of fuel tomeet invention relates toimprovements in automatic controlvalves for waterheaters and the like,wherein the fluid pressure of water circulated through the heater is,arranged to automatically control thesupply o-f fuel to the heaterburner whereby the supply of fuel may be keptproportionall to the-fiowofwater .to be heated.

The primary object of my invention is to provide an improved valve forautomatically regulating the flow of fuel to theburner' of a waterheater to conform to the vflow of vwater to be heated. y

Another object is to pro device whichis simple an action and which willefiici flow of fuel to the quantity quantity of water to be heated, andthereby effect economy in fuel consumption.

A further object is to provide an improved device of the characterdescribed, which may be easily and accurately adjustedto obtain vadesired ratio between the flow of waterv and fuel to a'heater, wherebythe degree of heat .and the gas consumption may be regu- 'lated Anotherobject to provide an 'improvedA valve which is entirely automatic in its.tionand .which is of a strongl rugged construction free from` delicateparts.

A still further object is to` p proved. valve construction whicnomically manufactured, assembled an stalled.

lI accompli ybeing drawn thro ticular moment. sists of a 'fuel' fitting4having an inle rangedto be connected to a `source vo supplyv nected tothe he ter through a suitable shutoil valve 8 and tubular connection V9connected tov the burner'. The fitting`4` is provided with a partition11 having' avalve seat 12 formed therein tocommunicate between the inletand outlet portions of the fitting. A Valve13 provided with a stem 14extending outwardly through a side of the fitting 4 is arranged toengagethe valve seat 12 to control the A water fitting lis'arranged to.be connectedbetween a source of wate'r'i'supply. and .the coils 2 ofthe heater,y said fitting consisting of a cylin'dricalbody portionwithin which vis slidably l'mounted a piston 17. Water is introduced.into the". cylindrical body through' an `inlet`connection 18.upon theouter side of the piston 17. An outlet connection 19 is connec in suchmanner piston 17 said outlet connection 191y being connected in anysuitable manner tothe coils 2 of the heater. A passage l21 taperingtowards the forward end ofthe piston 17 communicates between theforward.portion of the cylinder and the outlet whereby water may flowpast the piston from the inlet to the outlet.

The pis stem 22 extend My improved valve cont'thar` vide an improved f'fuel d positive in its ently restrict the required for the rovide animh may be ecosh theseand. other objects by -meansof the1 improveddevice disclosed in the drawings .forming a part of the` presentspecification, wherein like characters of ref- I erence are. used to`designate, similar parts throughout said specification and drawings .andin which7 Fig. 1 is a broken side elevation of awater .heater l.showingmy improved valve conlnected therewith.

.Fig 2 is aplan view of the va .upon a somewhat larger scale.

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal vertical section of v. the valve showing theinternal construction thereof.

Fig. .through the valve struction andA opera therein.

-Referring .aisusedto des ton is provided with a suitable ing outwardlythrough the. back of the fitting 16. a' suitable v'stuffing gland 23being providedto preventthe'leakage of water -past said stem.

The fuel fitting 4 Vand water fitting 16are connected .by means of a tuthreaded onto extensions and formed upon the fittings 4 and 16respectively. The tubularmember24 is arranged to secure the1 fittingstogether wi 14 and`122'in th the stems axial alignment. rThe sides ofthe,tubularv lve drawn 4 is a .broken horizontal f section fittingy showingthe contion of the fuel valve to the, drawings, the numeral 1 ignate ingeneralA a water heater 'the requirement for the quantity of water V-ugh the heater at any .parn and' an outlet 7 arranged tobe con- T flowofv fuel therethrough.

bular member 24 erein lwater is circulated ted into the fitting 16 as toopen in' back ofthe f stem 14 and compressed against the fitting 4 bymeans of an adjusting nut 29 threaded onto said stem 14. The nut 29 isprovided with a flange 31 whereby the nut may be turned to adjust thedegree of pressure exerted by the spring 30 and. the degree ofresistance Voffered by said spring to a longitudinal movement of thevalve 13. said spring being arranged to normally hold the valve 13seated upon the valve seat 12.

Ay pilot light is mounted adjacent to thc shut-off valve 8 and extendedto a pointv near the burner 3, fuel being supplied to said pilot lightthrough a tubular connection 33 connected to the inlet side of the fuelfitting 4. A suitable cock 34 is connected between the tubular member 33and the pilot light and arranged to be manually operated by means of asuitable lever 36 for controlling the supply of fuel to the pilot light.The lever 36 is preferably arranged to extend across the course ofmovement of a lever 37 provided upon the shut-off valve 8, as shown inFig. 2, whereby said shut-off valve cannot be opened when the pilotlight is shut off.

In operation my improved automatic valve is as followspThe piston l17 isad justed longitudinally by means of the adjusting nut 27 until only aslight opening through the tapered passage 21 is afforded when the valve13 is seated upon the valve seat 12, thus permitting the normal pressureunder which the water is delivered from its source to` be equalized uponopposite sides `of the piston. Vhen now it is desired to l l draw heatedwater at a point of delivery,

the turning on of the water at said point of delivery will cause areduction of pressure upon the outlet side of the piston. The wat r uponthe inlet side of the piston, being under normal pressure will be forcedthrough the passage 21 and will be conduct` ed through the coils 2 ofthe heater wherein it is heated before delivery. The difference in4pressure upon opposite sides of the piston will cause said piston to bemoved inwardly against the pressure of the spring 28 until a balance isreached and the opening through the tapered end of the passage 21 pastthe piston is made sufficiently great `to accommodate thefiow of waterbeing withdrawn at this point of delivery.

The inwardV movement of the piston 17 caused by the drawing of waterthrough the water fitting 16 causes the valve 13 to be moved acorresponding amount, thereby opening the valve and permitting aflow offuel therethrough to the burner 3 where it is ignited by the pilot lightand caused to heat the water passing through the coils 2 in the wellknown manner. The degree to which the valve is opened is proportional tothe movement of the piston which in vturn is proportional to thequantity of water being used. Thus if only a slight amount of water isbeing drawn through the heater, .the pis-- ton will be moved only a verylittle and the fuel valve will be opened only slightly, ythus producingonly a low flame sufficient to heat the small quantity lof lwater beingused. Should the amount of water drawn through the heater be increased,the piston will be moved slightly farther inwardly and the fuel valvewill be opened correspondingly wider whereby fuel sufficient to heattheincreased amount of'water may be delivered tothe burner. Y

The degree to which the fuel valve is opened fora stated flow of waterthrough the water fitting 16 is regulated in two ways: First, byadjusting the pressure exerted by the spring 28 and against which thepiston l17 and valve 13 must be moved, and second,

by adjusting the amount of the tapered passage 21 which is opened whenthe valve and piston are in normal valve closing position., rIheseadjustments are obtained by advancing or receding the adjusting nuts 27and 29 along the threaded stem 14. By increasing the pressure exerted bythe spring 28, the degree of movement resulting from the flow of anystated quantity of water through the water fitting 16 will be decreased,and by decreasing the pressure, the amount of valve opening will beincreased. At the same time, an increase in the normal opening throughthe passage 21 past the piston 17 will reduce the amount of movement ofthe piston to accommodate a stated iiow of water, and a de crease insaid normal opening will cause an increase in the degree of movement. Inthis manner the valve may be easily and accurately adjusted to cause thewater to be heated to a desired degree.

This accurate control of the fuel consumption effects a great economy,as the heat pro-r duced is substantially all utilized and there is nowaste such as caused by heating the water to a higher degree thanrequired, or by heating a greater quantity of water than is actuallybeing used.

The shut-olf valve 8 is normally keptv open and the pilot light burningso that the device operates entirely automatically to heat water to thedesired degree at the moment it is to be used. When it is desired todiscontinue the use of the heater' for any considerable time, however,the shut-off valve forms a convenient means for closing the fuel supply.

While I have illustrated and described what I now consider to be thepreferred coni I struction of my invention, the device is, O

course, subject to modification in numerous ways without departing fromthe spirit of the invention. I, therefore, do not wish to restrictmyself to the specitic construction illustrated and described, nor do Iwish to limit the device to the particular mode of applicationexplained, but desire to avail myself of all modifications which mayfall within the scope of the appended claim.

Having thus described myinvention what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is:

A valve for water heaters and the like, comprising a fuel fittingarranged to be con- .f nected between a source of fuel supply and aburner mounted in connection with a heater; a water fitting arranged tobe connected between a source of water supply and the heater; a tubularmember connected be;-

tweenthe fuel and water fittings to hold the same in rigid spacedconnection, said tubular member having oppositelydisposed openings inthe sides thereof; a valve mounted within the fuel fitting forcontrolling the 30 flow of fuel therethrough to the burner; a.

piston mounted within the water fitting and arranged to be displaced bythe fluid pressure of water circulated therepast; axially aligned stemsconnected to the valve and piston, said stems extending axially into thetubular member; an adjusting nut threaded onto one of the stems andarranged to engage the other stem whereby a displacement of the pistonwill automatically cause a corresponding displacement of the fuel valveto permit a flow'of fuel proportional to theiiow of water, saidadjusting nut being accessible through the openings in the sides of thetubular member for adjusting the normal position of the piston withinthe water tting; a spring mounted around the valve stem said springbeing arranged to normally hold the valve and piston in valve closingposition;

and an adjusting member threaded onto thel valve stem land arranged toregulate the pressure exerted by said spring to yvary-the displacementof the piston and valve result` ing from a stated ow of water, saidadjusting means being accessible for adjustment through the openings inthe sides of the tubular member.

In witness whereof, I hereby set my signature.

CARL HARTMANN.

iov

